Sony Music has sued the makers of the 2022 Whitney Houston biopic 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' over allegations they have failed to pay fees due under a deal that was negotiated covering the synchronisation of the musician's recordings into the film.
With those fees unpaid, the use of the Sony-controlled tracks in the film is now unauthorised, says a lawsuit filed in California last week. Therefore, the film-makers have “no legal right to use the Sony Music recordings", and their "conduct has caused and continues to cause substantial and irreparable harm to [Sony Music] and the estate of Whitney Houston, while enriching [themselves] at the expense of [the label] and the estate of Whitney Houston".
The litigation targets Anthem Films and various other companies involved in the production of the biopic, although not the film's distributors which, in most markets, were subsidiaries of Sony Pictures.
Kicking things off by slightly stating the obvious, the lawsuit explains that "musical biopics are biographical films that dramatise the lives of some of the greatest musicians. Unlike other types of films, musical biopics by their nature require use of the subject musician’s music, as it is nearly impossible to explain the importance of a musician’s creative genius or unique style and talent without the use of the musician’s music".
As for the sync deal done between Sony and Anthem, it says, "aware of the need for authorisation to use plaintiffs’ sound recordings in order to produce a biopic about the life and music of Whitney Houston, and aware of the value of [the label’s] catalogue, Anthem entered into a licence agreement and access agreement with Sony Music, each dated as of 5 Dec 2022".
All the fees due under those contracts should have been paid by July 2023, but, the lawsuit states, "Anthem has failed to pay the fees owed to Sony Music under the agreements", despite the fact the film’s "worldwide theatrical grosses having totalled over $59 million". Not to mention additional income from "home video sales and from a licence of the film to Netflix".
With all that in mind, the major wants the courts to hold Anthem et al liable for copyright infringement and order them to pay the music company lots of damages.